Tuesday, December 17, 2013

2013 Christmas Letter



December 2013

We wish all of our friends a joyous Merry Christmas and very Happy New Year.  The Lord continues to bless our family and we are forever grateful to Him for His mercy and His grace!

Two more grandsons made their arrival this year.  Daughter Jessi and her husband Mike are the parents of a 4th child, Barrett Padraic, born on February 22.  Also, son Jeremy and his wife Lisa are the parents of a 3rd child, Marshall David, born exactly one month later, March 22.  Both boys are so cute and growing very rapidly.  They bring our total to 7 granddaughters and 7 grandsons.  We are truly blessed!

It has been a challenging year as well.  IBM decided they no longer needed the position held by Bruce and he was laid off in July.  Once laid off, he retired from both IBM and McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) and began receiving his pensions.  He still teaches one night a week at Missouri Baptist and pastors Bethesda Baptist Church.  For the present, we are doing fine financially and have insurance as an IBM retiree.  Unfortunately, our needs still require Bruce to work full time so he has been looking for a new job since July.

Debbie has also had a difficult year.  She had surgery on her left foot back in April (she had surgery on the right one last year) but the bone has not healed.  Recently she got a second opinion and that doctor is going to try some other things to help her.  She will have another surgery on that foot in early 2014.  She keeps busy with our ladies ministry at church and loving on her grandkids!

Briefly, here is a summary on our children and their families:

§         Tim & Sonja’s family is changing as well.  Mandie graduated with both a high school diploma and an Associate of Arts from the Missouri Academy at Maryville University in May.  The twins each have a boyfriend (no, the boys are not also twins!).  Jacob is recently engaged to Allison and they are planning a May 31 wedding in our church with Grandpa officiating.

§         Jeremy & Lisa’s daughters, Lydia & Lainey, are in preschool at a local Lutheran church.  Lydia, just completed her first soccer season.  Their home just escaped the May tornado which hit our area.

§         Jessi & Mike are kept busy with baseball being played by Brody and Bryson.  Their daughter Cora turns 2 just before Christmas and is getting bigger (and cuter) every day. 

§         Sarah & Matt moved from Wright City to St. Charles in May, completing the move the day before the tornado hit.  Fortunately, they also escaped any damage.

§         Emily & Tyler are still in the Springfield area.  Both of their older children are now in school.  Gracie is in 2nd grade and Levi in Kindergarten, each of them enjoying their school.  One year old Wesley is keeping his mom busy at home.

§         Becky, Elise, Beth, and Tina still live at home with us.  Each of them drive and work nearby.  They all keep busy with various activities ranging from computer gaming, CosPlay and violin to movie watching and shopping!

We sincerely wish you a Merry Christmas and pray the Lord grants you a great 2014!


The Walkers  (Bruce, Debbie, Rebekah, Elise, Bethany, Christina)                           

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